Date Her Instead Vol. 5

Chapter Four: Steps Forward And Back Yet Again

The next day gave Michi an odd feeling. For the past several weeks, she had been making her journey to school alone. Before, she had met up with Mayu and Itsuki along the way, but thanks to her own actions, that hadn't been happening. Now though, as she approached the point they used to meet up at, the spot that had been empty for a time now had Mayu and Itsuki in it once again.

"Heya Mi-chan," Itsuki said. "Good morning," Mayu added. "Good morning you two," Michi said back in response. She couldn't help but smile. "It's been a while since we walked together like this," Itsuki said, giving voice to Michi's feelings. "Yes. It's nice that we're back together," Mayu said with a small nod.

As they walked along, Michi began making comparisons. In the time she had been apart from Mayu and Itsuki, she had made new friends. They weren't bad at all, and Michi did get along with them, but... it was different. Walking to school was the perfect example. She hadn't once done that with any of them since becoming friends. Although, Michi was sure that even if she did, it wouldn't feel the same. Being able to walk with Mayu and Itsuki just felt right.

Her thinking made her wonder if it would be possible to balance the two groups. "It would be great if they'd all get along, but it's always awkward bringing friend groups together," Michi thought. She began to worry if reuniting with Mayu and Itsuki would cause problems with her new friends. The relationships that she had with them may have been different, but they were still ones that Michi wanted to keep. They had only just begun to really form a bond. To have to abandon that would just hurt Michi's heart. "Well, it's not like anyone's making me choose either..." she thought. In the end, she decided that all she could do was hope for the best.

Approaching the school, Michi looked around for the one person missing from their group. "Is she here yet?" she wondered. Through their first year of high school, Mayu, Itsuki, Michi and Kanako had all come together at the gates, but ever since Kanako had started walking with Haruna, that had begun to vary. "Maybe they're still on their way..." she thought begrudgingly. Even if she wanted to really fix her friendship with Kanako, Michi still needed to figure out a way to deal with Haruna.

Aside from the two of them being childhood friends, Michi just didn't understand why Kanako chose to spend her time with Haruna. Regardless of her confusion though, one thing had been made clear: when asked to choose, it had been Haruna that Kanako had chosen, not her. That had caused all sorts of feelings to swirl about inside Michi, but finally, it felt like she could actually think about them.

Some deep self-reflection had helped Michi to cast away her desire to blame all of her problems on everyone else. She was also able to see just how much she had been in her own way. Really, it didn't matter why Kanako had picked Haruna over her. Michi's own attitude had been more than enough to push Kanako away on its own. If she was ever going to stand a chance of regaining Kanako as a friend, that was something that needed to change.

Unfortunately, knowing that and actually doing it were two separate issues. There had already been times in the past when Michi had wanted to talk about something, only for her mouth to say something else entirely. That had caused several arguments with Kanako, and each one had served to cause more and more damage to their fracturing friendship.

"Will I actually be able to say what I want to say this time?" Michi wondered. "Hey, Mi-chan, aren't you gonna change your shoes?" Itsuki suddenly asked. "Huh?" Michi let out. She looked at her friends, who were already about to go down the hall. Then she looked down at her feet. "Oh, right," she said upon seeing her outdoor shoes still on. "You okay Mi-chan? You got pretty quiet toward the end of our walk here," Itsuki said, concerned. "I'm fine," Michi answered. "Just thinking about some things." "If you say so..."